The Malta Independent 17 August 2026, Monday
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European Stocks Fall as German business confidence drops

Malta Independent Saturday, 23 June 2012, 00:00 Last update: about 15 years ago

On Friday European stocks fell to the lowest level in more than two years. U.S. index futures advanced, while Asian shares dropped.

Credit Suisse Group AG slid 1.8 percent after the Swiss lender and 14 other global banks were downgraded by Moody’s Investors Service. Michael Page International Plc, Solvay SA and Royal Vopak dropped after the stocks were downgraded. Bankia SA led gains among Spanish lenders.

The Stoxx Europe 600 Index declined 0.8 percent to 246.54 at 9:22 a.m. in London. Still, the gauge has climbed 1 percent this week after Greece’s New Democracy party was able to form a coalition government after placing first in the country’s June 17 election. Markets in Sweden and Finland are closed during the day for public holidays.

German business confidence fell to the lowest in more than two years in June as the worsening sovereign debt crisis clouded the economic outlook. German Chancellor Angela Merkel travels to Rome during the day for crisis talks with Italian Prime Minister Mario Monti, Spanish Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy and French President Francois Hollande.

European leaders will hold a June 28-29 summit, the 19th since Greece’s financial meltdown, to try and resolve competing visions over how to reshape the 17-nation economy, with Germany and its fiscally disciplined neighbors unwilling to foist additional burdens on their taxpayers.

Spain’s banks would need as much as 62 billion euros in capital to withstand a worst-case economic scenario, according to two consulting firms hired by the government to conduct stress tests on the lenders.

Japanese stocks fell snapped a two- day rally as U.S. housing and jobs data missed estimates, stoking concern the global economy is slowing. Shares pared losses as the yen’s drop to a five-week low against the dollar lifted exporters’ outlook. The Nikkei 225 Stock Average fell 0.3 percent while the Topix Index dropped 0.4 percent.

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